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AIM: To evaluate the ability of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission and computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) in restaging of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after treatment.

METHODS: We reviewed a database of the diagnostic performance of 18F-FDG PET/CT scan for patients with HCC following local or regional treatment. The database consisted of 18F-FDG PET/CT information of 21 male and 4 female (age range, 27-81 years; mean age, 51.6 years) patients who had received surgical resection and/or interventional treatments and then underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT scan. All patients had received enhanced CT scan of the liver two weeks before or after the 18F-FDG PET/CT scan. Intrahepatic recurrence and/or extrahepatic metastases were confirmed by histological analysis or clinical and imaging follow-up. The accuracy of 18F-FDG PET/CT study was determined by histopathological results or by clinical and imaging follow-up.

RESULTS: 18F-FDG PET/CT was abnormal in 19 of the 25 (76.0%) patients. In detecting HCC recurrence, 18F-FDG PET/CT scored 17 true positives, 5 true negatives, 2 false positives and 1 false negative. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of 18F-FDG PET/CT in detecting HCC recurrence was 89.5%, 83.3% and 88%, respectively. 18F-FDG PET/CT had an impact on management of these patients by settling the problem of an unexplained increase in alpha-fetoprotein after treatment (14 patients), by monitoring response to the treatment and guiding additional regional therapy (12 patients), by identifying extrahepatic metastases (10 patients), by identifying tumor growth or thrombosis in the portal vein (6 patients), or by guiding surgical resection of extrahepatic metastases (2 patients).

CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that whole body 18F-FDG PET/CT may be useful in the early evaluation of residual, intrahepatic recurrent or extrahepatic metastatic lesions and able to provide valuable information for the management of HCC recurrence.